Sherlock Season 5: No More Secrets

#3: Mycroft's Confession

Mycroft began: "Mother was married before. His name was Ethan Walsh, and he was our biological father. Mother met him in her last year of college apparently, and they got married shortly after graduation. He was quite a talented businessman, but as his wealth grew mother said he became more and more cold and sadistic; he began hitting her, and accusing her of things she didn't do. I was 6 when we ran away from him. I can still remember the last time I saw him, he gave me a black eye, and that look on his face,... Mycroft closed his eyes and shook the memory away. Anyway, you had just been born, and mother knew it was time to leave. We planned our escape and it worked. Mother met father soon after, and we all decided long ago that it was best to have you believe the father you were raised by was our real father. Ethan's business dealings began quite aboveboard, but it didn't take long after college before he began to turn toward the underground market. He soon became one of the biggest underworld businessmen in the world; selling arms and other irreputable goods and services to the highest bidder. There were many crimes we connected to Ethan over the years, but we never had enough evidence to convict him of anything; and then he was murdered. Found beaten,... hanging from his bedroom's outdoor balcony.

Now obviously Eurus, being who she is, discovered this truth; and in doing so, overwhelmed me with an unforeseen discovery. When she met with Moriarty at Sherrinford she found out that he had been taken in as a teenager, raised by Ethan, and worked for him. She was able to verify that Ethan was indeed our father, and one more startling revelation.

Ethan had remarried years ago to an actress named Helena, and they had a daughter named Charlotte....a daughter who was supposed to have been murdered with her mother by someone Ethan hired,.... but she wasn't. Eurus told me she was still alive. It seems Ethan took her when she was 3 years old and hid her away somewhere. Helena met with mother and I the day before her murder to plan an escape for her and Charlotte. We had everything planned out perfectly,... we were just too late.

Eurus told me that Charlotte had been placed in an asylum after Ethan's death. She had been found under the bed in Ethan's room on the day of his murder. Anyway, I immediately went to the asylum to find that she had just vanished. After that, the trail ran cold until today.

A message arrived." Mycroft handed the note to Sherlock. "It simply reads: "Mycroft's hiding and that makes Charlotte cry. Seek him in his hiding spot or in 10 hours she will die". My best men are already on the case, but unfortunately they haven't figured it out yet." Mycroft opened a desk nearby removing a photo from its contents. "This is the last photo taken of Charlotte on the day of Ethan's murder. She's 8 years old. The doctors at the asylum said she's deeply traumatized: ptsd, selectively mute, and highly dissociative.", Mycroft expounded. Sherlock took the photo from Mycroft's hand and slowly turned it around. A small pale girl with messy blonde hair and frightened blue eyes stared back at him. Sherlock could feel the anger inside boiling to the surface, but choked it down. All that mattered right now was finding Charlotte and then he'd have time to be angry, but not now...there was a case!

Sherlock looked up and coldly asked Mycroft for everything he had on Ethan, Helena, and Charlotte; then he stated that John and him were on the case. John looked at Sherlock with worry for his friend. He knew Sherlock was upset and pushing it down, but that it was necessary for him to do so in order to focus on the task at hand. They needed to save Charlotte and only had a few hours left to do so. Mycroft brought them all the information he had, and as he handed them off to Sherlock he looked directly into his eyes and said, "Forgive me, please". Sherlock took the files, and he and John left without another word.

On the road they poured over the files and came across some interesting information from the asylum: Pictures Charlotte had drawn. In each picture there was a black bunny in a suit with Charlotte, and yet the intake papers stated she had no items with her when she was checked in; and the form was signed by none other then Inspector Lestrade!